And The Winners Are.....

The last Academy Award for 2007 has just been awarded. There were some surprises and some no-brainers in terms of winners tonight. Following is the list of all of the awards given tonight during the television broadcast:

• Best Picture -- The Departed
• Best Actor -- Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland)
• Best Actress -- Helen Mirren (The Queen)
• Best Supporting Actor -- Alan Arkin (Little Miss Sunshine)
• Best Supporting Actress -- Jennifer Hudson (Dreamgirls)
• Best Director -- Martin Scorsese (The Departed)
• Best Foreign Language Film -- The Lives of Others (Germany)
• Best Adopted Screenplay -- The Departed
• Best Original Screenplay -- Little Miss Sunshine
• Best Art Direction -- Pan's Labyrinth
• Best Cinematography -- Pan's Labryinth
• Best Sound Mixing -- Dreamgirls
• Best Sound Editing -- Letters from Iwo Jima
• Best Original Score -- Babel
• Best Original Song -- "I Need to Wake Up" -- Melissa Etheridge (An Inconvenient Truth)
• Best Costume Design -- Marie Antoinette
• Best Documentary Feature -- An Inconvenient Truth
• Best Documentary Short -- The Blood of Yingzhou District
• Best Film Editing -- The Departed
• Best Makeup -- Pan's Labyrinth
• Best Animated Feature -- Happy Feet
• Best Animated Short Film -- The Danish Poet
• Best Live Action Short Film -- West Bank Story
• Best Visual Effects -- Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

The Shadow also give kudos to Ellen DeGeneris who hosted this years affair. She kept the show moving and her brand of humor was on par tonight. The show ran 45 minutes later than scheduled, but that is par for the course.

Until next year.....

And The Oscar Goes To......

With those five words, the lives of many will change tonight. Some people will receive their first award after being nominated several times. Others will win their first award along with their being nominated for the first time in their careers.

Yes folks, the Academy Awards will take place shortly. As has been tradition on this blog, The Shadow will give you his predicted winners of what will be the most watched show in the world tonight. Here are The Shadow's predictions in most of the major categories tonight:

• Best Picture -- The Departed
• Best Actor -- Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland)
• Best Actress -- Helen Mirren (The Queen)
• Best Supporting Actor -- Eddie Murphy (Dreamgirls)
• Best Supporting Actress -- Jennifer Hudson (Dreamgirls)
• Best Director -- Martin Scorsese (The Departed)
• Best Foreign Language Film -- Pan's Labyrinth
• Best Adapted Screenplay -- The Departed
• Best Original Screenplay -- Letters from Iwo Jima
• Best Documentary Feature -- An Inconvenient Truth
• Best Animated Feature -- Cars

These are The Shadow's picks. We will follow-up on this at a future date.

The Shadow Gets "Eye Candy"

February is an interesting month. Usually throughout the month, themes have ranged from romantic love to erotic love. On Valentine's Day, The Shadow had the opportunity to view an art exhibit from ARTWorkSF that came in the middle.

Rhythm I by artist Malcolm Nicoll

This exhibit was entitled "Eye Candy" and featured the following artists:

• Dean Loumbas
• Malcolm Nicoll
• Dan Cope
• Charlotte Kay
• Heather Robinson
• Alan Mazzetti
• Jennifer Mack
• Heather Hanan
• AnneKarin Glass
• William Ulrich
• Anahid
• Chris Lawrence
• R.E. Roberts

Artists Jennifer Mack and Heather Hanan at the Reception

As The Shadow mentioned, this exhibit definitely comes in the middle. "Eye Candy", in the words of Curator Matt McKinley:

is any image that heightens arousal or brings up thoughts of love and intimacy: depictions of aphrodisiacs, symbols of love, and the accoutrements of creating mood or reinforcing connections (i.e. the symbolic meaning of flowers or jewels). This exhibit features sugestive rather than overt, erotic, not sexual, images that cause the mind to wander towards amore!

You can view this exhibit at the Hotel Triton, 342 Grant Avenue, in downtown San Francisco. The exhibit is open 24/7 and will run through March 21, 2007.

Art Patrons at the Reception at the Hotel Triton

As always, all work at this exhibit is available for sale or rental. More pictures from the reception are available here.

The Shadow Enjoys "A Little Night Music"

Completing The Shadow's tour of art galleries, The Shadow now makes his monthly visit to the gallery of San Francisco Women Artists in the Laurel Heights area of San Francisco. The title of this exhibit was "A Little Night Music".

Music Lovers by artist Sandra Lo

Artists featured at this reception were:

• Lynn Dee
• Dawn Ming
• Regina Rosenzweig
• Lucille Clohessy
• Caren Lorber
• Sandra Lo
• Laura Hollis
• Allie Hyde
• Kazuyo Sato-Leue
• Ellen Chestnut
• Jennifer Mack
• Pauline Crowthers Scott
• Trudy Vilaska
• Carmen Wyllie
• Catherine Moreno
• Jess Zepeda, Jr.
• Bernice Kehoe
• Ella Driscoll
• Donna Solin
• Rita Sklar
• Gwendolyn Halpin
• Sam Cahill
• Thalia Stratton
• Catherine Lerke
• Leah de Nola
• Karen Gann
• Barbara de Groot
• Ming Wu

Thalia by artist Jess Zepeda, Jr.

This exhibit has a musical theme. San Francisco Women Artists were up to their usual standards in the selection and exhibiting of these works of art. In fact, you could almost hear the music playing as you went through the gallery.

Strumming by artist Bernice Kehoe

This show will run through March 3, 2007 at the gallery of San Francisco Women Artists, 3489 Sacramento Street (at Laurel Street), in San Francisco. Gallery hours are Wednesday through Saturday from noon to 5:00 p.m.

More pictures from the reception are available here.

The Shadow Goes "Skin Deep"

The Shadow continues his tour of art receptions with yet another art reception from ARTWork SF. This exhibit was a very sensual show appropriately titled "Skin Deep".

This show featured the following artists:

• Maria Bartola Mejia
• Stephen Wanat
• Bruce Meisner
• Erik Christiansen
• Michael Childs
• Fima Gelman
• William Urish
• R.E. Roberts
• Jennifer Mack
• Barbara Elliott
• Pauline Crowther Scott
• AnneKarin Glass
• Sherri Cavan
• Laura LaForet Lengyel
• Jeff Codori
• Beryl Fine
• Genea Barnes
• Karina Cherif
• Steve Haas
• Thomas Hyman

Music was also provided during the reception
The photo above is from Genea Barnes

For those of you who attended ARTWorkSF's "One Night Stand" show (or saw The Shadow's write-up of it on this blog), you would enjoy this show. The Shadow called this a "mini One Night Stand".

In the words of curator Matt McKinley:

What is sensuality? A heightened sensitivity to instinctual signals of arousal or attraction that one leads (or follows?) down a path towards connection, interaction and highest personal pleasure? On view is visual stimulus from two and three dimensional forms that depict figures erotic, sensual and inviting (depending on what you're into!) with enough skin showing to titillate even the most "well-traveled" eyes. "Skin Deep" represents a feull sexual spectrum -- power play to sweet seduction from artists attuned to pleaure and passion!

This exhibit runs through February 17, 2007 (just in time for Valentine's Day). Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday from noon to 5:30 p.m.

Pictures from the reception are here (Warning: Some of the pictures are sexually explicit -- please be age appropriate to view the pictures).

And yes, all of the pictures in this exhibit are available for sale or rent. Contact ARTWorkSF for details.

"Action Potential" at Polarity Post Productions

As The Shadow continues on his art reception tour, we next come to Polarity Post Productions as the site of ARTWorkSF's next reception and exhibit entitled "Action Potential".

Artists participating in this exhibit include:

• Karen Gutfreund
• Jennifer Mack
• Pauline Crowther Scott
• Ann Simms
• Charlotte Kay
• Anahid
• Aisjah Hopkins
• Marcia Middleton
• Fong Fai
• Ethel Jiminez
• Heather Hanan
• Marius Starkey

This exhibit can only be best described by its curator, Matt McKinley:

Art that comes right at you! From the harmonious resonant energy of saturated color combinations to bold and daring brushstrokes and unexpected pairings and mixings, the work in this exhibit is a showcase for artists willing to challenge the constraints of their working substrate through their own exploration of color (pastel colors need not apply!). Eligible work for this show includes bright, colorful, satured works on canvas, board or paper, vibrant color photography, colorful sculptural/three dimensional work.

As you can see, a lot of the work in this exhibit says "HI.....LOOK AT ME!!" It was very pleasing to the not only the eye, but many of the other senses as well.

Top: The Shadow with artist Marcia Middleton
Bottom: Artist Marcia Middleton with one of her works at the Reception
This show is at Polarity Post Productions, 69 Green Street, in San Francisco. Viewing hours are 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. This exhibit will run through April 14, 2007.

For more pictures from the reception, click here.

The Shadow Previews "Tongue in Cheek"

Alas dear readers, The Shadow is still here. There have been many receptions and parties recently and The Shadow is finally getting around to writing about all of them. Hopefully you will not go into overload with all of these art entries.

The Shadow recently made a stop at the Monadnock Building in downtown San Francisco to view the current ARTWorkSF exhibit "Tongue in Cheek".

Rump Roost by artist Will Bullas

"Tongue In Cheek" features the following artists:

• Will Bullas
• William Mayfield
• Ben Dominguez

Sunny Side Up by artist William Mayfield

This exhibit shows the more satirical side of art. It is "art with a sense of humor!"

City Cowboys by artist Ben Dominguez

This exhibit is on the third, fourth, and fifth floors of the Monadnock Building, 685 Market Street (at Third Street), in downtown San Francisco.

The Shadow knows what you are asking -- where are the pictures of the reception and the artists? The reception for this exhibit has not yet taken place. It will take place March 21, 2007 in the Monadnock Building from 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. The Shadow will be there, but the general public is more than welcome.

Other works from the exhibit are available here.